Avondale, Ariz. — The Indy Racing League regulars welcomed Team Penske with open arms, then let the competitors from the rival CART series know the transition won't be easy.
Sam Hornish Jr. led the way Friday in practice for the season-opening Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, followed by Eliseo Salazar, Stan Wattles, Eddie Cheever Jr. and defending IRL champion and race winner Buddy Lazier.
Hornish had a top speed of at 173.451 mph.
Helio Castroneves and reigning CART champion Gil de Ferran worked hard to adjust to the new cars and the one-mile oval, with Castroneves ninth and de Ferran 19th among the 27 drivers who made practice laps.
"Everybody has made us feel very welcome," de Ferran said. "To me, these guys are real tough competitors. The worst thing that you can do is to go into anything underestimating the competition. We won't do that."
Roger Penske's CART elite team, which has won a record 10 Indianapolis 500s, is using Sunday's race as a warmup for the big May race, an event he has not entered since the IRL began competition in 1996.
Fellow CART owner Chip Ganassi broke the boycott by the top teams and drivers last year, entering Indy and winning with Juan Montoya. Penske, aching to get back to the race he considers the biggest of them all, will join Ganassi there this year.
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